


A Rose Among Thorns

by faeriefirefly



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: 18OI AU Week 2019: Day 7, Alternate Universe - Space, Alternate Universe - The Little Prince, Astronaut Katsuki Yuuri, Character's Name Spelled as Viktor, Fluff, I had too much fun with being able to make up random animals that are only mentioned in like 2 lines, IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT VICCHAN LIVES ALWAYS, Lonely Victor Nikiforov, M/M, Prince Victor Nikiforov, Shimmer Sheep and Chamelon Cats might have their own backstory, Vicchan Lives, also as usual, as usual, that no one will ever see, though he's only briefly mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-03-19 22:30:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18979636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faeriefirefly/pseuds/faeriefirefly
Summary: Written for the 18+!!! on ICE Server Discord AU Week 2019: Day 7 - SciFi/DystopiaViktor was stunned by the sight above. A fiery light streaked across the night sky and he could barely make out smoke streaming in its wake. He was happy his planet was small enough and whatever had exploded far enough away that the gravitational pull wouldn’t bring any debris down to the surface. Viktor sighed in relief but then noticed a small speck floating toward his planet. He began to panic as the speck came closer and closer, speeding toward the surface, headed right for the fields. He took off at a run, desperately wanting to protect his flowers from whatever was coming their way, for what else did he have to hold on to?





	A Rose Among Thorns

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my fanfic soulmate [Dedica](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dedica/pseuds/Dedica) for cheerleading and beta reading. And lots of thanks to all my writer/reader friends on the [18+!!! on ICE](https://discordapp.com/invite/jRXfSXc) discord server for your encouragement!
> 
> I almost posted this for Day 1, as I consider The Little Prince a modern fairy tale and the server agreed with me, but as I had several other ideas for Day 1 and SciFi is not my forte, it's here as a Space AU! I hope you enjoy this silly little fluff fest! **Many liberties were taken with both The Little Prince and Yuri!!! on Ice universes.

Once upon a time in a faraway land, there lived a beautiful boy with hair that gleamed like spun starlight. The boy was intelligent and inquisitive as well as talented and hardworking, and he just happened to be a prince, ruler of his own little planet. Viktor’s planet was tiny, no bigger than a good-sized asteroid, really, number B-612 in the Empire. His parents were busy running their much bigger, much more important planet, A-17, and his younger brother had a small B planet of his own to worry about. Since he’d come of age, caring for his planet was all Viktor knew outside infrequent calls and holiday visits to his family, occasional texts and visits with his best friend from childhood notwithstanding.

Viktor spent his days tending the roses native to his planet, making sure they had enough water, enough sunlight, that the vicious caterpillars that liked to munch on rose leaves were nowhere near the beautiful blue blooms. He constructed portable greenhouses to protect them from solar winds, fertilized them religiously and pruned them to make them grow more vigorously. He spent time each day weeding out other plants that would compete with and strangle out the roses, most insidious of all the baobab trees that sometimes took root. His hard work paid off, and he was proud to have won the Best in Show award at the Empire’s esteemed Interplanetary Vegetation Exhibition for five years running.

When he wasn’t caring for the roses, Viktor tended his small flock of miniature shimmer sheep, aided by his faithful hound, Makkachin, who herded them to their shelter each night and in inclement weather. She treated the colorful cottonballs like they were her own wayward puppies. Sometimes, on a rather regular schedule, he would observe one of the three small volcanoes dotting the surface of his planet, measuring them and taking soil samples to send for analysis. The volcanoes were long dormant, but it was better to be safe and sure than be sorry and have any of his prized roses lost to a surprise eruption. At the end of each day, Viktor looked out over the fields of roses with faces closed for the night, the flock of tiny sheep settling down in their pens, and felt satisfaction as he watched the sun set behind the horizon.  

Unfortunately, that satisfaction began to wane, creeping up on Viktor so slowly, over the course of years, he didn’t even notice it until it was a full-on fugue. Viktor’s planet was lovely, but lonely, with only his poodle for company (cute and fluffy as they were, the sheep were too stupid to count). His routine was monotonous, unending and unexciting, and had become filled with melancholy. His parents were happily running their planet just as they’d always done, seemingly unbothered by repeating the same royal duties day in and day out. Yuri was happy to be left alone with his clowder of chameleon cats (who didn’t mind his abrasive personality), his days spent much as Viktor’s were.

As Viktor became aware of his unhappiness, he found he didn’t want to disappoint his family and didn’t know why he felt the way he did when everyone else was perfectly content in the routine of running their own planets. So he stuffed the unsatisfied feelings down and continued on, striving to be the best ruler and caretaker of his little planet he could be. No one noticed the strain of his smile, not his parents, not his brother, not his friend Chris. His unspoken wish for something different, something new, something to snap him out of his rut, only manifested in his dreams.  

One night, those dreams were interrupted by a big boom, so loud the sound waves rattled Viktor and Makkachin in bed. Viktor instantly leapt to his feet, scrambling into his robe and shoving slippers on his feet, anxious to check on the roses. When he opened the front door, Makka shot out in the direction of the sheep sheds, but Viktor was stunned by the sight above. A fiery light streaked across the night sky and he could barely make out smoke streaming in its wake. He was happy his planet was small enough and whatever had exploded far enough away that the gravitational pull wouldn’t bring any debris down to the surface.

Viktor sighed in relief but then noticed a small speck floating toward his planet. He began to panic as the speck came closer and closer, speeding toward the surface, headed right for the fields. He took off at a run, desperately wanting to protect his flowers from whatever was coming their way, for what else did he have to hold on to? As Viktor ran, the speck slowed down, and he realized it wasn’t debris but a person attached to a parachute. He kept running, headed for where he thought they would land, and watched as a white-suited figure touched down in the middle of his roses, the parachute floating down behind them to blanket the field. The figure struggled to sit up while Viktor rushed over, leaping rows of roses until finally made it to the astronaut. Not only was the parachute still bogging the person down, their slim-fitting spacesuit was tangled in thorns.

“Wait! Wait, let me help!” he cried, hoping to preserve his precious roses.

The figure startled, clearly not having noticed Viktor until he yelled, but stilled. They pushed the visor back on their helmet as they turned their head, and Viktor’s gaze met big brown eyes framed by long lashes. All thoughts of his roses left Viktor’s mind—the man looking up at him was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Viktor watched as the wariness on the man’s face rapidly gave way to shocked surprise, a flush painting his lovely features as he squeaked wordlessly.

“It’s ok! I’m not going to hurt you or anything!”

“N-no, it’s, um, you’re not wearing much? Sorry!” The man’s blush deepened as his eyes skittered away from Viktor.  

Viktor looked down at himself, realizing his robe had blown open as he ran. He was in his usual sleeping attire underneath, which truly wasn’t much, just his tiny black underwear. His slippers had been lost during his run. He hastily closed his robe, not sure where the tie had gone, and looked back up at the man. “Better? I was asleep and just ran out of the house when I heard the explosion. Was that your ship? Are you ok?”

The man glanced back over, the blush still on his cheeks, before looking up to the fire still trailing across the sky and sighing. “I don’t know what happened, but it started burning fuel much faster than it should have and overheated. I think I ejected just in time. I might be sore later but I don’t think I have any injuries. Sorry about your plants.” He gestured as best he could with his arms still stuck in the rose bushes.

“It’s quite alright! I’m just glad you’re ok. Let’s get you untangled.” Viktor helped the man disengage from his parachute and peel himself away from the thorns, taking much less care with the roses than he ever had before. He was much more concerned with making sure the thorns didn’t scratch what he was sure was smooth skin under the man’s spacesuit. He even decided to leave the parachute over the roses ‘til morning. Once he’d gracelessly pulled the man to his feet, he didn’t want to let go of his hand.

The man didn’t pull away but blushed again as he looked up at Viktor. “Thank you so much; I don’t know what I would’ve done if you weren’t here. That would have definitely taken me a lot longer.”

“You’re very welcome, um— Oh, I supposed we haven’t actually introduced ourselves yet. I’m Viktor Nikiforov.” He shook the hand he was still holding.

“I’m Katsuki Yuuri, or Yuuri Katsuki as you would say.” Yuuri did pull away then, to give him a small bow, and Viktor mourned the loss of his touch even through the gloves he wore. “It’s nice to meet you, Viktor. Can you tell me where we are? I know I was flying through the B Sector but I don’t know exactly where I ended up.”

“You’ve landed on my planet, B-612.”

“Your planet– Oh! I’m sorry, Your Highness.” Yuuri bowed again, lower this time.

Viktor waved him off. “Don’t worry about that. I’m just Viktor, not very high up in the pecking order. This is a very small planet; in fact, I’m the only one who lives here, besides my dog and the sheep.”

“Ok, Viktor,” Yuuri said as he straightened up, smiling at him. “Can I use your comm to call my family? I’m sure the alarm went off when my ship disappeared from tracking and they’re probably worried.”

“Of course! My house is this way.” ” Viktor used the opportunity to grab Yuuri’s hand again, to lead the way, of course.

They walked down the row until they reached the end of the field, then made their way to the path to the house, chatting amicably as they went. Viktor told Yuuri a bit more about himself and his planet, while Yuuri shared a bit more about his background. Yuuri’s family ran a small resort planet full of hot springs and he’d been on his way to support a friend in a hydroblading event when his ship malfunctioned. Viktor was captivated by the man’s gentle voice, his shy smiles, the sidelong glances he kept shooting Viktor’s way, the soft blush and giggle when he got caught and Viktor squeezed his hand. As they talked, Viktor found that Yuuri’s spirit seemed to be as lovely as his form.

A happily panting Makkachin greeted them halfway with a woof, sniffing Yuuri curiously as Viktor introduced them. Yuuri kneeled down to greet Makka properly, clearly knowing his way around dogs. Viktor glanced over at the sheep sheds but saw nothing amiss; his good girl had settled them all back down for the night. He turned his attention back to Yuuri, who was cooing over Makka and petting her, both clearly enjoying themselves. Yuuri gave her one last pat before standing up and taking Viktor’s hand again with another shy smile. “I have a poodle back home. He’s much smaller than Makkachin, though.”

Stars, Yuuri was _perfect_. He tugged Yuuri’s hand again and clicked his tongue at Makka, and they continued on to the house. As they entered, Yuuri murmured social niceties but he actually seemed to mean the compliments he paid the décor. Viktor was proud of the comfortable space he’d made for himself and Makka, soothing blues and grays intermingled with sleek white and shining steel, and knowing Yuuri liked it warmed his heart a little more. Viktor grabbed his comm, ensured Yuuri knew how to use it, and settled him down at the kitchen island before leaving him to make his call in private, heading to the bedroom to get dressed. He slipped on some comfortable clothes and found the same for Yuuri, sure the other man would want to get out of his torn spacesuit. He dawdled, making sure Yuuri had enough time to talk to his family before heading back out to the common area, catching the end of Yuuri’s conversation.

“Yes, Kaasan, I’m fine. I promise. Thanks for getting in touch with Phichit for me. Ok, I’ll call if I need anything else.”

Viktor listened as Yuuri assured his family he was well once more and ended the call, then cleared his throat. “I brought you some clothes if you want to get cleaned up and out of that suit.”

Yuuri turned and smiled up at him, then bit his lip with a worried expression. “Thank you, that’s very thoughtful of you. I’m afraid I might have to impose on you for a few days. Mari is all the way in Sector F on a supply run. She’ll have to drop everything off at home before she can come for me. I could call an UBR but it will still take a day to get here…”

“…or you could stay.”

Yuuri looked at him with wide eyes, gold flecks sparkling in their mahogany depths.

“I like you, Yuuri, and I’d like to get to know you better. If you don’t have anything to go back to right away, you could stay here for a while.” _Or forever,_ Viktor thought recklessly.

A smile lit Yuuri’s face and he stood, walking over to Viktor. The smaller man took the bundle of clothes, his hands lingering on Viktor’s skin, his eyes sparkling up at him with a warmth that soothed something in Viktor’s soul. “I think I’d like that."


End file.
